Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/71

Rh numerous improvements in the construction of time fuses for bomb-shells and grenades. In 1811 he patented a method of making cast-iron chilled rolls, and in 1822 first designed cylinder stoves. Mr. Alger served as a member of the city council during the first year of its existence, and was elected alderman in 1824 and 1827.

ALGER, Horatio, Jr., author, b. in Revere, Mass., 13 Jan., 1834; d. in Natick, Mass., 18 July, 1899. He was graduated at Harvard, engaged in journalism and teaching, and in 1864 was ordained pastor over the Unitarian church in Brewster, Mass. Taking up his residence in New York in 1860, he became interested in the condition of the street boys, and this experience gave form to many of his later writings. He has published in book-form &ldquo;Bertha's Christmas Vision&rdquo; (Boston, 1855); &ldquo;Nothing to Do; a Tilt at our Best Society,&rdquo; a poem (1857); &ldquo;Frank's Campaign, or What a Boy can do&rdquo; (Boston, 1864); several series of books for the young; &ldquo;Helen Ford,&rdquo; a novel (1866); and a volume of poems. &ldquo;Ragged Dick,&rdquo; &ldquo;Luck and Pluck,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Tattered Tom&rdquo; are the most popular of his series for boys.

ALGER, Russell Alexander, governor of Mich- igan, b. in Lafayette, Medina co., Ohio, 27 Feb., 1836. He was left an orphan at eleven years of age, worked on a farm till he was eigh- teen, attending school in the winters, and then, after teaching, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He began to practise in Cleveland, but was forced by im- paired health to re- move to Grand Rap- ids, Mich., where he en- gaged in the lumber business. He became captain in the 2d Mich- igan cavalry at the be- ginning of the civil war, and at Boonesville. Miss., 1 July, 1862, was sent by Philip H. Sheridan, then colonel of that regiment, to attack the enemy's rear with ninety picked men. The Con- federates were routed, but Capt. Alger was wounded and taken prisoner. He escaped on the same day, and on 16 Oct. was made lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Michigan cavalry. On 28 Feb., 1863, he became colonel of the 5th Michigan cavalry, and on 28 June his command was the first to enter the town of Gettysburg. He was specially mentioned in Gen. Custer's report of the cavalry operations there, and in the pursuit of the enemy he was severely wounded at Boonesborough, Md., on 8 July. He was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley in 1864, and on 11 June, at Trevillian station, by a brilliant charge, he captured a large force of Con- federates. On 11 June, 1865, he was given the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general of volunteers. He then resumed the lumber business in Detroit, Mich., and has acquired a fortune, serv- ing also as president or director of various corpora- tions. His great pine forest on Lake Huron com- prises more than 100 square miles and produces annually more than 75,000,000 feet of lumber. In 1884 he was the successful Republican candidate for governor of the state, serving from 1885 till 1887. In March, 1897, Gen. Alger was appointed secretary of war in President McKinley's cabinet.

ALGER, William Rounseville, clergyman, b. in Freetown, Mass., 30 Dec, 1822. He studied for the ministry, was graduated at Harvard theologi- cal school in 1847, and received the degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1852. Immediately on his ordi- nation he became pastor of a Unitarian church in Roxbury, and in 1855 removed to Boston, where he became pastor of the Bulfinch street church, and finally united with Theodore Parker's congregation in 1868, whom he succeeded as pastor, then wor- shipping in Music Hall. In 1874 he removed to New York, and in 1875 became pastor of the Uni- tarian church of the Messiah in that city until 1878, when he moved to Denver, thence to Chicago in 1880, to Portland in 1881, and returned to Bos- ton. His published works comprise " The Poetry of the Orient ; or Metrical Specimens of the Thought, Sentiment, and Fancy of the East," pref- aced by an elaborate dissertation (Boston, 1856 ; new ed., 1861) : an edition, with an introduction, of James Martineau's " Studies of Christianity " (1858) ; " A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," with a bibliography by Ezra Abbot, containing 5.000 titles (1861) ; " The Genius of Soli- tude ; or The Loneliness of Human Life " (1861) ; " Friendships of Women " (1867) ; " Prayers offered in the Massachusetts House of Representatives during the Session of 1868 " (1869) ; " The End of the World and the Day of Judgment," and "The Sword, the Pen, and the Pulpit ; a Tribute to Charles Dickens" (two pamphlets, 1870); " Life of Edwin Forrest, with a Critical History of the Dramatic Art" (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1877); "The School of Life " (Boston, 1881) ; and " A Symbolic History of the Cross of Christ " (1881).

ALLAN, George William, Canadian senator, b. in Toronto, 9 Jan., 1822. He was graduated at Upper Canada college, Toronto, in 1839, studied law, and was called to the bar in 1846, after which he travelled extensively. He was elected mayor of Toronto in 1855, and has been president of the Canadian institute of the same city. In 1869 he was appointed government trustee for municipal bond fund of the Toronto and Nipissing railway. He sat in the legislative council of Canada for York division from 1858 until the union, and was called to the senate in May, 1867. Mr. Allan was elected chancellor of Trinity college in 1876.

ALLAN, Sir Hugh, ship-owner, b. in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, 29 Sept., 1810 ; d. in Edinburgh, 8 Dec, 1882. After receiving a limited educa- tion, he entered a counting-house in Greenock in 1823, and in 1824 sailed on his father's ship, " Favorite," for Canada. For three years he was clerk in a dry - goods store in Montreal, and afterward was in the shipping- house of James Miller. He served during the rebel- lion of 1837 as a volunteer, rising finally to the rank of captain. Mr. Miller died in 1838. and was succeeded in business by the firm of Edmonston and Allan. In 1853 this firm began the construction of iron screw steamships, and the "Canadian,"